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Have you ever started out in a direction only to have all your plans suddenly take a left turn, and it seems you'll never get back on course?
About a year ago I set out to research some screen printing equipment in the hopes of starting a small tee shirt shop...It appeared the small community I live in was in need of more options then what was already here. But shortly after my research began on screen presses, I found myself detoured by a new machine I knew little about, the DTG printer.
After looking into it more, it became very clear this little machine would fit our needs far better than screen printing anyway, so I spoke with my business partner/son-n-law/money man, and he strongly agreed this newer technology would set us apart from those around me, as well as the bulk of my artwork was more suited to this type of printing, and we expected the bulk of our business to be short run full color stuff, geared towards the biker tourists that frequent our town, so we'd be printing on black most of the time....Perfect fit for DTG.
So I spent the next several months researching every DTG printer out there...Even flew out to Orlando to attend last years SGIA show, so we could see some equipment in person before we made a decision, and a tough decision it was, but in the end we decided we wanted to go with AA and the NeoFlex, but as luck would have it, about that same time the cash flow we were going to tap into to purchase all the equipment, suddenly dried up to a trickle of its former size, which put everything on hold unless we wanted to finance the equipment, but we had already agreed not to go down that road...We would pay our way with cash or wait till we can.
And so we wait...and wait, and in the mean time the extra cash that does trickle in has allowed me to acquire a new computer, plus be able to load it with CorelDraw X6, Photoshop and a few other useful programs. We also picked up a small Cameo plotter and most recently I've got a GeoNight heat press coming next week, so I'll be able to cut vinyl and make a few heat transfer shirts and other misc items for the time being, but its not exactly where we planned to be by this time.
I should be printing on a NeoFlex dang it...not doing one and two color stuff in vinyl...lol. I know, I'm just whining, and should be happy and thankful with what I've got so far, but after all the research and planning over the past year, to have the rug jerked out from under you at the last minute, is still a kick in the pants no matter how ya slice it. Oh well...Nothing I can do but keep chugging along and wait for things to pick back up.
In the mean time, I may see if any of the Neo family is located anywhere close to my area, and would be willing to work with me so that I might still be able to offer customers with those special jobs that need the full color and quality of print that the Neo provides, an option...Honestly, I dunno what I'm gonna do yet...try to sell some cut vinyl for now till more money for equipment is available I suppose...Ok, I'll stop crying on your shoulder and go back to dreaming of printing cool images on black shirts, until the dream becomes a reality.
About a year ago I set out to research some screen printing equipment in the hopes of starting a small tee shirt shop...It appeared the small community I live in was in need of more options then what was already here. But shortly after my research began on screen presses, I found myself detoured by a new machine I knew little about, the DTG printer.
After looking into it more, it became very clear this little machine would fit our needs far better than screen printing anyway, so I spoke with my business partner/son-n-law/money man, and he strongly agreed this newer technology would set us apart from those around me, as well as the bulk of my artwork was more suited to this type of printing, and we expected the bulk of our business to be short run full color stuff, geared towards the biker tourists that frequent our town, so we'd be printing on black most of the time....Perfect fit for DTG.
So I spent the next several months researching every DTG printer out there...Even flew out to Orlando to attend last years SGIA show, so we could see some equipment in person before we made a decision, and a tough decision it was, but in the end we decided we wanted to go with AA and the NeoFlex, but as luck would have it, about that same time the cash flow we were going to tap into to purchase all the equipment, suddenly dried up to a trickle of its former size, which put everything on hold unless we wanted to finance the equipment, but we had already agreed not to go down that road...We would pay our way with cash or wait till we can.
And so we wait...and wait, and in the mean time the extra cash that does trickle in has allowed me to acquire a new computer, plus be able to load it with CorelDraw X6, Photoshop and a few other useful programs. We also picked up a small Cameo plotter and most recently I've got a GeoNight heat press coming next week, so I'll be able to cut vinyl and make a few heat transfer shirts and other misc items for the time being, but its not exactly where we planned to be by this time.
I should be printing on a NeoFlex dang it...not doing one and two color stuff in vinyl...lol. I know, I'm just whining, and should be happy and thankful with what I've got so far, but after all the research and planning over the past year, to have the rug jerked out from under you at the last minute, is still a kick in the pants no matter how ya slice it. Oh well...Nothing I can do but keep chugging along and wait for things to pick back up.
In the mean time, I may see if any of the Neo family is located anywhere close to my area, and would be willing to work with me so that I might still be able to offer customers with those special jobs that need the full color and quality of print that the Neo provides, an option...Honestly, I dunno what I'm gonna do yet...try to sell some cut vinyl for now till more money for equipment is available I suppose...Ok, I'll stop crying on your shoulder and go back to dreaming of printing cool images on black shirts, until the dream becomes a reality.
